You can be good without God, Denham tells church leaders

A government minister whose department is in charge of public policy on faith and aims to build cohesion by bringing believers of different religions together told church leaders last night it was possible to be good without God and challenged the assumption that faith organisations alone were responsible for "defining, shaping and transmitting values".

John Denham, secretary of state for communities and local government, accepted an invitation from Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, an ecumenical body representing Christian denominations, to speak on the subject of inter-faith relations and government policy. In his speech at Methodist Church House, London, he said he was a secular humanist and it would take a "skilled theological surgeon" to separate these beliefs from his Church of England upbringing.

He told the audience he recognised the important contribution of religious groups to society, but refused to accept that religion enjoyed a monopoly on the direction and nature of the country's moral character.

"It would be wrong to suggest that faith organisations alone are responsible for defining, shaping and transmitting values," he said. "It is not necessary to have faith to be deeply, morally and profoundly altruistic."

Denham rejected the "profoundly misguided" idea that there was "a secular conspiracy" at the heart of the government that sought to "marginalise faith and marginalise believers".

But he did not attempt to gloss over tensions."The relationship between faith and government will not always – perhaps not often – be comfortable.

"Those of us in government will no doubt continue to take decisions which some faith communities disapprove of," he said, alluding to battles over assisted suicide, abortion, stem cell research and sexual orientation.

Senior Anglican and Roman Catholic figures frequently express their concern at the government's behaviour, decrying it as secular and a betrayal of the country's Christian heritage.

In a report, published last year by the Von Hugel Institute, the Church of England criticised Tony Blair and Gordon Brown for helping to create a civic, economic and spiritual crisis in Britain. Moral, But No Compass, accused Labour of "deep religious illiteracy" and of having "no convincing moral direction".

Churchmen have also blamed a government in thrall to secularism for everything from the economic crisis in Iraq to global warming and the minister's comments are unlikely to change their view.

But Denham's robust defence of the non-religious has found favour with the British Humanist Association.

Andrew Copson, from the BHA, said: "We may disagree with much of what Mr Denham … but it is very welcome that he should make it clear that morality is non-religious for many people in Britain today."

Sign up for the Guardian Today

Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.